The Beginning

Uriel Howard, Journalist

   Tyler the Creator is an enthusiastic, rowdy, creative singer/songwriter from Ladera Heights, CA. Born to a Nigerian father, an Igbo descent and an mother mixed with African-American, European, and Canadian. An American rapper, record producer, music video director.

    Stardom came into the young man’s life by his famous brands, Golf Wang and OFWGKTA. The Odd Future brand includes Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, and Tyler himself. He has been released several mixtapes over the years such as Flower Boy, Potato Salad, and Goblin. His first studio album was ranked No. 1 on the US R&B charts. At age seven, he would create CD covers, which was the beginning of his creative activities. He had taught himself to play piano by the age of fourteen.  

    Another source of his popularity was his music video, “Yonkers,” where he chewed up a cockroach and spit out the remains. It went insanely viral overnight, and he often bragged about the event in several interviews with genius. The artist canceled his Australian tours at the position of a feminist group. The United Kingdom stated “lyrics that encourage violence and intolerance of homosexuality and foster hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts.”

   With that, Tyler put out a tweet saying “based on the lyrics from 2009, I am not allowed in UK for three to five years (although I was there 8 weeks ago) that is why the shows were canceled.” The tour with A$AP Rocky is still going to happen, and the secretary stated that “the lyrics are seven to eight years old and were written when Tyler was eighteen. Could you even imagine being held to things you said when you were 18?”  She also poses, “how could you punish someone for growing up?”

   Also banned from Australia after writing lyrics discussing rape in his music, the artist put out a tweet “you won” to the organizer of the Australian feminist group Collective Shout. There’s a petition going around to deny his entry back into Australia, with around 2,000 signatures.  When the feminist leader attended one of his shows, he called her a derogatory name.

    There’s free speech, but Tyler’s music questions to what other people believe or things of their religious belief. His fans still vote for him when the award shows come around. Fifty years from now the younger generation will be rooting for him from the front row of an arena. Others may tolerate him but he will always be a committed writer. The world is on an ‘agree to disagree’ status with the artist.